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How will these letters be used? Stories/letters collected on this form will be posted on a static page on the NSN's website that will be included in all of our social media and letter campaigns to oppose H.R.2601. Submission of this form indicates your consent for your letter to be included on this static page.
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Will all letters be published? Submitting your letter is not a guarantee it will be included. Letters will be more likely to be published if they follow our trauma-informed storytelling framework.
Unsure how to talk about your beliefs or experiences without being overly and unnecessarily graphic? See our post on trauma-informed storytelling. View it here: Trauma-Informed Storytelling.
Will my letter be edited? Letters may be edited for grammar/punctuation and content warnings may be added at the discretion of the SLPM.
Do I have to use my name? Can I use my real name if I want to? You may use your name if you choose (please see our safety planning guidelines in the Survivor Storytelling Workbook for considerations) or may type "Anonymous" in the name field.
What do I do if I want my letter removed from the website? After publication, you may request that your story be removed at any time by emailing survivorleadership@castla.org. Removal may take up to a week.
H.R.2601 Summary:
H.R.2601 is a dangerous bill that threatens the safety, privacy, and autonomy of human trafficking survivors by engaging law enforcement without their consent. It would require the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH) to turn over call information to law enforcement upon request, and does not mandate survivor consent. This goes against everything confidential victim hotlines are supposed to be, and sets a dangerous precedent that could create a chilling ripple effect on other forms of hotlines. When victims cannot trust hotlines to provide safe, confidential guidance without nonconsensual sharing of their information, they simply won’t call.
A recent amendment to only report third-party tips to law enforcement without survivor consent does not fix the fundamental problem: The NHTH already complies with mandated reporting laws and reports any credible tips where it is clear someone is unable to get help for themselves. Adding in additional reporting mandates puts survivors at risk of unexpected contact with law enforcement and having their choices around if and when to seek help taken away from them. For many survivors, this may put their own or their families’ safety at risk.
We cannot risk losing this essential service in the name of supporting an increased carceral response to trafficking, particularly when we have not fully invested in the kinds of public health prevention that could prevent that primary perpetration in the first place. Survivors know when it is safe enough to engage law enforcement, and we must trust them to know their situations better than we do.
